[the_tyrant]

I have to say, I like the new design, but than, everyone has to admit, that certain compromises were made.

Well, lets discuss the desktop first. The start button has been hidden. You still click in the same location to get into the start screen, but there is no more button.

Aero has been removed. It depends on if you liked aero or not, but aero has been removed, and again, it depends on your tastes.

The first big improvement that I like, is the new animations. You barely notice it when it is there, but you do notice it when its not. The thing is, your computer has bottle necks when it comes to performance. Your graphics card is rarely one of them. When say you boot a program, instead of showing a static splash screen, it would have a little spinning animation.

What do these little animations do? Well, they show that the computer is still responding, and not dead. You see, when your computer is completing an action that takes a few seconds, in windows 7, it seems "dead", whereas in windows 8, there is an animation that shows that your computer is still working.

This explains a common statistic. Statistics show that in windows 8, users on average force close programs less. Why? Lets say your computer has been bottlenecked, and the program "freezes" for 10 seconds. In windows 8, the built in programs all have forms of feedback, aka you know that the program is still working. However, it windows 7, it just looks like the program is "dead", you will continuously click on it, until you get the message that the program is not responding and that you should close it.

The second main thing that I like, is the new, app neutral notification system.

Consider this, I am in excel entering some data. My right hand would be on the number pad. In windows 7, if someone sends me a message on facebook at the time, I would hear a "ping", and I would have to move my hand off the number pad, use the mouse to click the browser and select the right tab, than view what the message is, and decide to respond.

In windows 8, under the same situation, the messages app would have a notification pop up on the top right, I would see who messaged me, and what he/she is saying. If I decide to respond, I would move my hand to the mouse, click on the notification, and start my response. If I decide not to, I can ignore it, and continue entering my data.

Thirdly, the "glanceability" is hugely improved. Consider this, lets say I want to check the number of unopened emails I currently have, in windows 7, I would have to press the windows button, click on the outlook icon, wait for it to boot, wait for it to download my email, and finally I can see if I have an unopened email. takes me 10 seconds in all.

I windows 8, I just need to hit the windows button, and I can instantly see the number of unopened emails I have. Hit the windows button again, and I am back doing what I was just doing. Takes me less than 1 second.

The Metro applications are "lighter" applications, I use them for light tasks, and that is what they are suited for. I use them if I am in the mood to take some notes/doodle in OneNote, or to quickly check some sports scores.

In fact, I would argue that Metro is simply an extension of OS X's much loved dashboard. It is a collection of lighter applications for some light weight use. The article you linked mentioned that the information density is lower, and that you need to go through one layer of menu to reach the more advanced stuff. I believe that is the point of metro, less information on the first layer means that there are less buttons, allowing the buttons to be bigger, easier to find, and easier to touch.

After all, most users, say my grandmother, do not need the laundry list of features. Outlook intimidates her, but the windows 8 mail app does not.

Finally, from the UX perspective, Windows 8 has made some significant gains. Have you ever see the MacBook pro Retina? it has a magnificent screen. However, it does have its issues, the "retina" is simply double the pixels, and the content is simply upscaled. Windows 8 however, is resolution and DPI independent. Ever tried a laptop with a 1080p screen? the text is TINY. Yet with windows 8, since it is resolution independent, the on screen elements would dynamically scale to a size suitable for your screen.

Also, windows 8 has native touchpad gesture support. It allows the touchpad to most of the multitouch gestures on the touchscreen. Pinch to zoom, two finger scrolling, slide down to close, etc, they are all included.

Yes, it is true, Windows 8 has made many compromises when it comes to UI design. The control panel is HORRID for touch. Metro snap makes certain apps too small for them to be useful, etc.

However, I firmly believe that windows 8 moving in the right direction. it simply implements everything that the competition is working on.

OS X has "light" applications in its dashboard, Windows 8 has the metro applications. OS X has the Launchpad, windows 8 has the start screen. Ubuntu unity has the HUD, aka the "click and type" with universal search, Windows 8 has the same thing, with the metro start screen. KDE has desktop widgets, Windows 8 has the metro start screen.